Inevitable
by Sapherer
Summary: (no Phantom Planet) Years ago, Danny went missing and no one has seen him since. Now, 10 years later at their high school reunion, he shows up without an explanation. Tuck and Sam aren't the only people surprised at what's become of him. (short summary, I know. But eh. Light TxS in the beginning)
1. Chapter 1

**Description: (no PP) Years ago, Danny went missing and no one has seen him since. Now, 10 years later at their high school reunion, he shows up without an explanation. Tuck and Sam aren't the only people surprised at what's become of him. (Short summary I know. But eh. light TxS in the beginning)**

 **AN: I've never written a fanfiction before- I prefer to read them. But after a while of looking for (and failing to find) a fanfic where something specific happens, I figured I might as well write it myself. I plan on making this pretty long, but alas~ I'm a busy college student with barely a speck of motivation. Don't expect regular updates. I don't keep a schedule for anything. I also have no clue how this site works, so just bare with me for now XD Oh! For a little plot thing, Jack and Maddie know Vlad is a halfa, but never made the connection with DF and DP. Cuz everyone is too oblivious for their own good. I'll probably follow this fic with a small series of one-shots based around it. Like how the Fentons found out what Vlad is and their whole history, Danny's initial panic at his appearance, stuff he did in the 11 years, and whatever else you guys might want to know.**

 **Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Danny Phantom. Though I wish I did. I'd remake the entire series simply because I'm not a fan of the art style. Google image 'Sapherer' for my art lol**

 **Warnings: Currently rated T, mostly for foul language and mild violence. If it's ever finished, it'll** _ **quickly**_ **turn to M for extreme violence and gore. Oh, and I'm terrible at keeping people in character, so almost everyone will be OOC- oops**

 **Ps: I hate present-tense stories. Like "He walks over to the house and does this" Just… No. It's a serious pet peeve of mine. So even though the majority of this fix is written in 'the present', I'm using past tense. "He walked over to the house and did that."**

 **...I also may occasionally draw fanart for my own fic. Check out Instagram .time**

 **Let the show begin!**

 **Chapter 1: Inevitable**

 _ **Present:**_

Nearly eleven years ago, at the start of senior year, Daniel James Fenton vanished off the face of the earth. His friends said something scared him into running away, but they didn't know what. His parents could offer no explanation, though Jack Fenton claimed it was ghosts. Not even his older sister Jasmine knew what happened.

Alongside him, the town hero Danny Phantom mysteriously disappeared as well. But of course, no one connected the dots. Without someone to challenge, other ghosts stopped showing up as well. Many blamed Phantom for their appearance in the first place, so this only added to their 'proof.' Search parties for both Dannys went on for months, but even those who cared the most eventually gave up.

But now, ten years after their graduation, his class is holding their reunion. No one expects him to show up, but a name tag is placed out anyways.

 _ **11 years ago- senior year:**_

Danny's parents were always worried that their son hadn't hit puberty yet. At 17, it was incredibly uncommon and concerning. It came as a shock when he finally did. In just a few _weeks_ he shot up a foot- nearly as tall as his mother. He had cheered at first, glad to finally no longer be the shortest senior. Not unlike other boys, he went all but mute when his voice started to change. Others thought it was out of embarrassment from the cracking but his friends knew better. They could spot the hidden fear in his eyes- even if they didn't know why he would be afraid.

His ghost fighting started to add up as well. Muscles started building up much quicker than before and was becoming increasingly more difficult to hide. Even with the late summer heat, he wore long sleeves and jackets to school. Though he was still getting taller, his shoulders gradually growing broader, he was still the favorite victim of Dash Baxter- and Danny still just let Dash do as he pleased.

It wasn't long until citizens started noticing a change in Phantom as well. Many stories were soon posted about his apparent sudden aging. Theories were thrown about how he was some sort of sub-species of ghosts who grew, aged, and died like humans. But at the same time, many articles were written by teenage girls who goggled at him all day long. If possible, Paulina Sanchez's obsession grew even more.

Strangely, Phantom started changing in other aspects. He started appearing less often- only showing up when another ghost was around. He was clearly getting stronger. Enemies that took an hour before only took minutes now. When he was spotted, his suit now had a simple change. Attached to the back of it was a white hood that he never removed. It completely hid his hair and cast a dark shadow over his face. His green eyes glowed brighter in the darkness, almost as if he were forcing them to be that way.

But as long as he kept up his job, no one really cared what he wore-

 _ **Location: Casper High**_

 _ **Eleven years ago**_

Danny stood by his locker, nervously fidgeting with his books as he waited for Sam and Tucker to show up. He's become increasingly nervous over the past few weeks. It was obvious even to students who didn't know him. He shuffled his feet, a light frown on his face. Sam and Tuck were late again. Late for their normal meet-up time, at least. His two friends had started dating nearly as soon as Danny started acting odd. He knew it was strange he was distancing himself from them, but he had a good reason and- Danny jumped as his locker slammed shut a few inches in front of his face.

He looked to find the resident bully blocking his view- Dash Baxter. He no longer had to crane his head up to look at the A-lister, nor did he fit in his locker anymore, but that didn't deter Dash in the slightest.

"Hey, Fenton," Dash said in his annoying nasally voice that made Danny cringe, "Your friends making out in some corner without you? I heard that goth bitch finally chose the techno geek over you."

Danny just glared at him, not trusting his own voice. It had stopped cracking in only a week- which was a miracle in its own means- but that's not why he chose not to speak. Of course he knew Sam and Tucker had started dating, and he was a little jealous, but he supported their decision. Dash's petty words were more annoying than insulting.

Dash grinned and shoved Danny back against his locker, a loud clang echoing in the mostly-empty hallway. "What, cat got your tongue? Or are you too embarrassed or your _squeaking_ voice?" Dash laughed. "Fuckin' freak." Danny closed his eyes, trying to will himself to calm down. He'd found that he was much quicker to anger these days. Dash shoved him again. "Speak up, _loser._ Can't stay quiet forever, _freak_."

Danny opened his mouth to snap back when a different voice cut him off. "Danny!" Sam called from down the hall as she and Tucker hurried over.

Dash scowled. "This isn't over Fenton." He gave him one last shove before marching away.

"Hey, Danny. You ok?" Tuck asked, getting a small glare from Danny. "Right, standard question…"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Why do you still let him bully you around? We all know you've been able to fight back since freshman year." She eyes him for a moment. "Even more now."

Danny just shrugged and turned to head to their first class, his friends soon following after.

 _ **Casper high**_

 _ **Lunch**_

The infamous trio sat down at their usual table outside, two out of the three idly chatting away. Danny would nod at appropriate moments, shrug, or roll his eyes. Sam and Tuck didn't seem to mind his silence. Although they were concerned at first, it was pretty normal now. He frowned down at his food, ignoring them for now. He was hungry but… this didn't bring up his appetite. It seemed wrong for some reason. Almost like it wasn't food.

He jumped slightly when a chunk of "meat" went flying across the yard and landing in his tray. He sent a glare towards the A-List table, where Dash and Kwan were clearly laughing at him. Another chunk of food flew over and splattered across the table, but it was Danny's deep growl that caught Sam and Tucker's attention.

Sam turned to fuss at Danny with a frown, but her eyes widened in shock instead. "Danny, your eyes…" Danny immediately stiffened up. His eyes had been burning a bright red, but quickly faded back to blue. "Why…" she began, but trailed off.

Tucker had noticed too. "Dude, is that what you've been looking so scared about?" Danny gave a little shrug. "It's… probably nothing, yanno. Ghost puberty?"

Sam smacked his shoulder before turning back to Danny, who was staring down at the table with something akin to shame in his eyes. "Maybe it just… has to do with emotions. You were getting mad at Dash, right?" Danny nodded. "There you go then. I mean, it's just a color… That doesn't mean you're turning evil, or into _him_." Danny visible cringed when she mentioned _him_. She paused, catching that, before continuing quietly, "There's more, isn't there?"

Danny's mouth opened for a moment as if he were going to reply- but was cut off when a large chunk of moist meat smacked into the side of his head. His eyes immediately snapped back to the glowing crimson red. He abruptly stood up, the table jerking, his hands on the top of it. Nearly everyone froze when a deep rumble of a voice growled, "What the hell is your problem?" Even Sam and Tuck froze. No one expected _that_ from Fenton. Despite everyone's gaze on him, Danny's eyes were only on Dash.

It took Dash a moment to comprehend that it was _Fenton_ who spoke. He laughed, "So he can talk!" He looked at the other A-listers. "Who woulda thought the freak hasn't gone mute?" The rest of them laughed, but it only lasted a few seconds. Dash raised an eyebrow, "What?" noticing their gazes on something behind him. Turning around- a loud crack filled the air as Danny's fist connected with his face, sending the jock flying out of his seat and to the ground. "Gyaah!" Dash yelled, a hand over his bloody and bent nose. None of the A-listers made a move to get up- not even Kwan. The terrifying furious look on Danny's face had them frozen in place, not to mention the fact that his eyes were _red._

Picking Dash up by his shirt collar, Danny cranked his fist back to punch him again when a voice cut through his mind-

" _PARADISE LOST!_ Mr. Fenton, what do you think you're doing!?" Their overweight English teacher, Mr. Lancer, yelled from across the yard as he made his way over.

Danny started, his eyes wide as he dropped the jock. He… he'd punched _Dash_. He'd hurt someone. He'd _wanted to hurt him_. "I…" Everyone's eyes were on him. A few looked angry or amused, but most were confused or scared. Before anyone could get to him, he ran behind a tree and turned invisible. While invisible, he shifted to Phantom and took off into the air.

His eyes remained red.

 **Later that night-**

Danny didn't go home that afternoon. He couldn't. His condition was getting worse, and… he couldn't put them through this. It wouldn't matter if they knew he was Phantom- they'd still accept him. But this was something he couldn't accept himself.

He sighed to himself as he slowly flew above Amity Park, watching people walk around beneath him. The crowds had thinned down in the hours since he left Casper, but he hadn't landed yet. Not even in the park. He couldn't risk anyone seeing him right now- especially with his eyes still deep red. And so, his invisibility stayed up, and he kept high out of the range of ghost-detectors.

"Danny?" Sam's quiet, concerned voice asked in his ear. The three of them always wore Fenton phones in case of emergency, or if Danny was too far away to talk in person. "You can talk to us, yanno. We're worried about you." Danny stayed silent, as he had been since he left.

"Dude, Dash had it coming anyways." Tucker spoke up. "And it was awesome! No one's ever stood up to him before!" There was a light smack and Sam hit him to shut him up.

She sighed. "Look, I know what you're thinking. We were there when you first met _him_ , remember? You're nothing like him, and you never will be. A little change in eye color doesn't mean anything. Pandora has red eyes, doesn't she? She's not evil. Clockwork too. And Dora, and Cujo…"

"Well, your voice did kinda sound like-" Tucker started but there was another smack as Sam hit him again.

"Tucker! You're not helping!"

Danny rolled his eyes. He knew they were trying to help, but it was more than just his eyes and voice. He looked down at the streets when he heard a startled scream. The box ghost was scaring some poor woman away from her shop. But instead of helping, Danny just kept flying until he couldn't hear them anymore.

After a few minutes of silence, Danny murmured, "You want to talk? Fine. Meet me at the park in twenty." He then reached up and switched off the ear piece. He then pulled his hood tighter around his head and angled towards his house. Sneaking in his room though the window, he grabbed a bag and started packing a few things- clothes, an extra Fenton thermos, a few hundred dollars he'd been saving, and a few other things. He slung the bag over his shoulder then took off for the park.

A bit later, he landed in a tree they usually met at and hid his bag in the leaves. His decision was already made, but he knew they'd protest if they knew. He floated down to the ground, turned human, and waited for them. The tree stood on top of a large hill, far from the main area. It had a great view of the city, and it was a wonder as to how barely anyone ever came here. Danny sighed and sat in the grass when he heard them coming up the hill. Not seeing a glow from his eyes, he figured they must be blue again.

"Danny?" Sam called.

"...yea." He answered, forming a small ball of glowing ecto-energy in his palm so they could see where he sat. Sam and Tuck wordlessly sat on either side of him. The infamous trio relaxed in the grass, watching the flickering lights of the city. It wasn't quite bright enough to block out the stars of night, which Danny always loved watching more. He closed his eyes and fell onto his back with a sigh.

It was awhile before anyone spoke up, but Sam broke the silence. "You're being ridiculous Danny. Everyone changes at one point or another. It's completely natural." She had slowly filled in over the past few years, gaining a more adult figure and slightly altered features. Tucker had grown taller as well- though was still rather scrawny.

"Yea, but not everyone grows up to be a psychotic evil ghost that's going to destroy the world." Danny grumbled quietly. His voice still came as a surprise to them.

"Dude- Clockwork said that's not ganna happen. He said-"

Tucker was cut off when Danny sat up and snapped, "Well Clockwork lied! He and Vlad said Dan turned evil when he merged with Plasmius, so why is it happening to me?"

"What are you-"

"I wanted to do so much more than just punch Dash." Danny said, his voice nearly an animalistic growl. "I wanted to beat him into the ground until he couldn't move- I wanted to make him beg and _plead_ for forgiveness- and make everyone who's ever hurt me suffer. So if I'm not turning into Him, explain why I still want to do that. Explain why I didn't care when someone was being attacked by a ghost earlier. Explain how I was a 6 on the meters last month, but a 7.5 this morning." He pulled his knees up and put his forehead against them with another growl. "And I'm so _fucking hungry…_ "

Tucker and Sam watched him with wide eyes. Neither of them knew what to say.

"Explain this…" Danny continued in a much quieter voice. A moment later, bright rings traveled across his body, transforming him into Phantom. One it was done, he pulled down his new hood. Though half lidded, his eyes burned bright red, giving an odd highlight to his unnaturally pale skin. Flickering slowly, almost lazily so, his hair was just as Dan's had been- white fire, not yet long enough to put in a ponytail.

Sam's breath caught in her throat. Neither she or Tucker could deny the shocking resemblance to Danny's older counterpart. Adding the fact that he wore a skin-tight suit, it was easy to see the buildup of muscle. He wasn't near Dan's bulk, but certainly had a build fit more for an adult instead of a teen in high school. "D-Danny…"

"Clockwork lied…" Danny said again, his voice barely a whisper. He looked up with his breath came out as a little puff of blue mist just a second before-

"GHOST CHILD! I, TECHNUS, MASTER OF ALL THING-" Technus rose out of the ground in front of them, but was quickly silenced by a powerful ecto-blast from Danny. When Sam and Tuck turned towards the small explosion and pulled blaster out from who-knows-where, Danny turned invisible and floated up into the air.

He was long gone before they even noticed.

 _ **Even years later- Present Day**_

 _ **Amity Park-**_

A motorcycle roared down a bumpy road as it approached the welcome sign to a small city. In its seat was a tall man wearing dark blue jeans and a black leather jacket, with a small bag strapped across his back. He didn't have a helmet on- he'd never bothered with it. His shaggy black hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, the bangs hanging just in front of his eyes- though dark sunglasses covered them. A layer of fine black stubble covered his jaw, where it was thicker at his chin.

He pulled his bike over just ahead of the welcome sign, temporarily parking it in the grass. "Amity Park…" he grinned, showing off sizeable fangs. "It's been a long time."

 **Chapter one complete! :D**

 **...idk when imma update again. It won't take a year, I promise! XD Well, unless I die or something. Check my Instagram (link at top) to see if I've vanished off the face of the earth. It'll prolly be updated about once a month. Whenever tf I have time to write.**

 **For now…**

 _ **Jack grinned at the stranger, showing no ounce of recognition. "You're a fan of our work? Great! Madds will love to meet you! What can we do for you?"**_

 _ **"Name's Daniel. I need your help with something."**_


	2. Return to Amity

**An: I'm** _ **BAAAAAAAACK!**_

 **That didn't take too long, did it? Its kinda short… I'm aware half of the link to my Instagram apparently vanished. Like I said, I don't know how this site works. Just search "Sapherer" for my main art account. Anything for this will be on my second account, which is linked somewhere in my photos. It's the only picture of another account there.**

 **Little note: this fic is mildly based on the song Monster by Imagine Dragons. So if you wanna kinda get in my mindset, go listen to that.**

 **I need you guys to vote on a song!**

 **Walk Away by Five Finger Death Punch**

 **Or**

 **Walk Away From The Sun by Seether**

 **If no one comments with a preference, I'll go with the Seether song for what I need it for. But I also really like the FFDP, so I'm kinda conflicted… XD**

 **Questions in Comments~!**

 _ **Garfield2013:**_ **Not entirely~ :3**

 **Thanks to** _ **Rock-Solid-Fantasies, Stillwatch,**_ _ **corazonoscuro2016**_ **and** _ **Sonicrockergirl**_ **for commenting too :) Really got me excited too see some just a few hours after posting the first chapter**

 **Chapter 2: Return to Amity**

Danny rode through Amity at a leisurely speed, not giving a damn about anyone trying to pass him. There weren't many others on the road anyways. The city had grown in the years he'd been gone and -much to his surprise- there weren't any ghost alarms or tech that he could spot. The sensors wouldn't be able to detect him anyways. He'd learned long ago that they could no longer pick up his ecto signature. Not even the GIW had tech that could see him. But he didn't come back here for the ghost tech- well, not exactly. No, he came back to do the one thing he never wanted to do again.

Talk to his parents.

He groaned to himself at the mere thought of it. He didn't plan on telling them who he was, and he doubt they'd recognize him, but well… he didn't exactly have a choice. They were the only ones capable of doing something he needed help with. As much as he hated admitted needing help with something.

He revved the engine as he prepared for a light to turn green- but a purple dress caught his attention. Walking parallel with him on the sidewalk was a woman with long black hair and a dark purple dress on. It barely reached her knees and was accented with multiple black accessories, as well as combat boots. He chuckled quietly under his breath. That girl never changed…

"Sam." He said simply. Sam turned her head to see who called, but he immediately hit the gas and sped off, leaving her to wonder who it was. He didn't once look back and continued to navigate his way through new parts of the city.

It took nearly an hour for him to find his way to the familiar looming building. A large "FENTONWORKS" sign blinked up above, though a few of the letters were dead. Danny ended up circling the surrounding blocks a few times, mentally psyching himself up. He parked across the street and groaned under his breath. "28 years old and I can't put up a poker face to talk to my parents… C'mon, Phantom. They're just people…" he sighed and pocketed his keys before getting up.

Danny put on an impassive face and crossed the street. _'I can do this… they won't recognize me… it's fine…'_ Before he could wimp out, Danny knocked on the front door. It only took a few minutes before he heard locks turning and it opened up. Danny's breath caught for a moment at seeing his father. Despite being ten years older and having more grey than black hair, he didn't look too different. "Hello?"

"J-Jack Fenton? I've heard you're an expert ghost hunter and inventor, right?"

Jack grinned at the stranger, showing no ounce of recognition. "You're a fan of our work? Great! Madds will love to meet you! What can we do for you?"

"Name's Daniel. I need your help with something." Danny answer, immediately regretting using his real name.

Jack's expression flattered for a moment. "Daniel? I had a son named Daniel… He went missing a few years ago. Why don't you come in?"

Danny went inside as Jack stepped aside to let him pass. "I'm sorry to hear that." He and his father shared hair and eye color, as well as imposing height, but Danny looking nothing like the scrawny kid he used to be.

"Jack, who was at the door?" Maddie Fenton called from the basement as she headed up.

"Someone who says we can help him with a ghost problem." Jack grinned. Maddie paused in the doorway when she spotted Danny, her eyes widening. Danny fidgeted nervously, hoping she didn't recognize him. "So, what can we help you with?"

"Right…" Danny began. "I'm friends with an old colleague of yours- Vlad Masters?" At their nod, he continued. "Are you aware of his… condition?"

"Condition?" Maddie raised an eyebrow.

"As… Plasmius." Danny said hesitantly.

Maddie and Jack shared a concerned class before she answered. "Yes… we know about that."

"Well, I…" ' _Holy shit, I can't believe I'm doing this…'_ "I'm like him. The only other one in existence."

Maddie didn't look too convinced, but Jack's expression immediately beamed with excitement. "You're a half ghost! We've wanted to study one for years but Vladdy never let-" he was cut off when Maddie put a hand on his arm.

"Our alarms haven't gone off, and they detect even class one ghosts, plus Vlad has set them off before."

Danny shrugged. "I heard there hasn't been a ghost in Amity for years. Maybe they're just too old?"

Her eyes slit lightly. "Then prove it."

"Only if you promise to help me- and not attack."

"Would it involve anyone getting hurt?"

Danny shook his head. "The opposite, actually. If you two can fix the problem- something Vlad can't even solve- then it might save a few lives."

"Why would we attack you?" Jack asked. "We only fight evil ghosts- unless you are evil!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Not quite… You two used to hunt me all the time." He closed his eyes for a moment and let the white rings appear at his waist. They split and spread across his body, leaving the two Fentons gaping at him. His skin turned incredibly pale, his hair burst into white flames, and his sunglasses vanished to reveal crimson red eyes. His clothes were replaced with a familiar black and white HAZMAT suit- though it had more white than they recalled- and had a white cloak tied at the hollow of his throat. The unmistakable DP symbol stood out boldly against his chest. ( **An: basically slightly less buff Dan, with pale (not blue) skin and a white cloak)**

"Phantom!" They exclaimed, Maddie's hand immediately dropping to the ecto-pistol attached to her hip.

Danny crossed his arms. "What happened to not attacking?"

She hesitantly removed her hand from the weapon, eyes slit in suspicion. Jack's own eyes were wide. "Phantom… You… You were a half ghost the whole time…?" He asked, to which Danny nodded. The older man had to sit down, his gaze on the floor. "We were hunting a child…"

Danny paused, caught a little off guard by that. "Well, technically ye-" He cut off when his breath stopped short and he let out a yell, dropping down to one knee. Danny's teeth and eyes clenched shut as his entire body started to flicker in and out of sight- almost looking like static. For a short moment, they caught sight of a bright blue sphere within the center of his chest, slowly twirling as its light dimmed. It only lasted a few seconds, but the sphere brightened again and Danny's body regained full form. He quickly changed back human, panting softly.

No one said anything for a while as Danny remained on one knee, his eyes closed.

"Wh… what was that….?" Maddie asked.

"That… that's what I need help with…" Danny answered as he tried to regain his breath. "It's… only affecting Vlad and I… but we don't- don't know what it is. He's got it worse though. Can't even leave his home."

Maddie nodded after a moment. "Why don't you come down to lab so we can do a few tests and figure out what this is?" Danny nodded back, and Jack went help him stand up, since his legs were wobbling. Maddie went down first, the two men following shortly after.

"Did you go to school with our Danny? You looked about his age back then." Jack asked.

Danny shook his head. "I didn't know any other Daniels, sorry." It wasn't technically a lie… He'd never met another person named Daniel before.

Jack nodded lightly, a somber look on his face. He had Danny sit up on a metal table so they could take blood and ectoplasm samples.

He sat in his ghost form while Jack took a small sample of his ectoplasm. Meanwhile, Maddie grabbed one of their power radars and pointed it at him. The little meter buzzed straight to 10 before going back down to 0, as if the battery died. She frowned and tapped the side a few times, before checking the battery. Danny rolled his eyes. "That's not going to work on me. They haven't for years."

Before she had a chance to question him, Jack asked, "So, Phantom. These samples will take about a day for results to come in- do you have a place to stay?"

Danny shook his head and reverted back human. "No. I was just going to get a hotel room."

Jack laughed. "Good luck with that! The hotels are packed full since there's a class reunion is tomorrow."

Danny frowned slightly and raised an eyebrow. "A class reunion…?"

Maddie nodded. "Would've been our son's, though he has a few friends going. They like to visit us sometimes…"

"Madds! Couldn't he stay in the guest room?" Jack grinned, clearly excited just to be near the Halfa.

She wasn't paying much attention though, lost in her own thoughts. "They sent us an invitation for him, even though he didn't graduate…"

' _I did too… just homeschooled with Vlad.'_ Danny mentally huffed.

Jack shrugged. "He was a good kid."

Danny shifted nervously and tried to change the subject. "So… about that guest room?"

Maddie sighed and nodded. "Yes, that would be fine… It would be safer for you to stay here anyways, in case anything pops up."

"Fudge is off limits!" Jack announced, to which Danny rolled his eyes. _'Some people never change…'_

After making sure they had enough samples to do a few basic tests, they showed Danny to the guest room. It was actually Jazz's old room- repainted and redesigned for anyone to use since she moved out. Danny made sure to thank them plenty of times before they left him alone for a bit. Since it was still early in the day, he decided to go out.

Danny transformed into Phantom, turned invisible and intangible, then flew outside. He drifted high up into the air before exploring around the city. Of course it had changed over the past few years- he hadn't expected any different. The layout was basically the same, but there were a ton of new buildings and streets. He didn't see any evidence that ghosts even existed there. Curious about the reunion party, he headed over to Casper. The old building still stood high, though looked completely rundown. It could seriously do with a new coat of paint and some remodeling.

But it looked like what Jack said was true. There were banners everywhere announcing the party of Danny's high school class. A few people wandered about as they put up decorations in preparation.

"Guess I have to pay them a little visit…" Danny chuckled to himself as he floated a good distance above the workers. He then absently shrugged and went wander around some more.

Soaring high above the city, Danny grinned as he got a little idea. "It's not like I'm ganna be here for long… Why not have a little fun?" He pulled up his hood and let his invisibility drop. His cloak fluttered in the wind behind him, but barely made a sound.

It only took a few minutes for someone to notice and shout "Phantom!"

Danny laughed when he saw nearly every person within hearing distance turn their head to stare. They were soon cheering as he passed by overhead, many holding cameras out. It wasn't hard to spot the ones who never trusted him- as they scowled and looked away; some blatantly ignoring him. He gave a little wave to the crowd before going invisible again, vanishing from their sights.

' _And now to spy on Sam…'_ He flew back to where he'd seen her before, unsure of where to start. The sun was beginning to set behind him, so it wasn't all that guaranteed she'd even be outside.

...It happened suddenly. Everything was calm, then horrid pain flared up in his chest. He flashed back into visibility, his entire body spasming as it started to flicker.

Danny screamed as he fell out of the sky- his blue core slowly dimming.

 **AN: Yay cliffhanger!**

 **I honestly hate cliffhangers, so I'm very sorry.**

 **...** _ **I'm really bad at building plot**_

 **Anywho… next chapter should be much longer. Meaning it'll probably take much longer to come out. xD**

 **But for now…**

 _ **There were a hell of a lot of people he didn't recognize there. He could easily blend in with them. It's not like he wanted to stay long, anyways. He was basically just curious to see who's still alive and who's not. And Dash. It bugged him to know if the jock was successful or a total bum. He snorted as he headed to the bleachers to take a seat and watch from above.**_

" _ **...Danny?"**_

'… _ **.shit.'**_

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

 **Another teaser!**

 _ **"J-Jack…? The blood sample we took from Phantom has a match…"**_


	3. The Reunion

**An: It's not as long as I was originally planning, but it's still a few pages longer than the first two chapters. They were about seven pages, while this one is eleven.**

 **Since no one voted, I went with the Seether song.**

 **I already have an idea for a second DP fanfic but I'm lost for a plot o-o it's like "oh that'd be awesome if Danny could do this! But in what scenario…?" So… Yea. :3 When I finish Inevitable, I have more plans~**

 **I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter**

 **Just throwing it out there: Danny's a bit OP… XD**

 **Chapter 3- The Reunion**

Phantom crashed down on top of a building, creating a small crater in the cement. He yelled in agony, his hands gripping his head tightly. The attack only lasted a few seconds, and he quickly transformed back to Fenton as soon as he could. He lay there for a few minutes, trembling from the aftereffects of the pain as his core strengthened again.

The attacks were… impossible to correctly describe to someone who didn't have a core. His source of power and _life_ would randomly convulse and completely drain his energy before going back to normal. There was no set schedule for when it happened, though it was usually a few hours between, and had never happened while human.

Danny took a shaky breath when he heard voices below him. Quite a few pedestrians had seen Phantom fall and were gathered around the base of the building.

"Mother fuck…" he hissed quietly when he shifted, pain flaring up through his chest. He had to have broken something, but it would heal soon anyways. He closed his eyes and laid his head back against the broken cement. Concentrating for a moment, he was able to feel emotions drifting up from the human below, and began to feed off of them. He had discovered shortly after leaving Amity years ago that the strange hunger he was feeling was a desire for a more… ghostlydiet. Ghosts scared humans because they fed off of emotions, and fear was absolutely _delicious._ Well, he could also feed off pure ectoplasm. But that was a bit more difficult to come across.

The whir of an engine caught his attention. Opening his eyes to glare at the sky, Danny spotted a familiar old hover-sled heading in his direction.

"Well, at least she's still alive… Crazy woman." He murmured. Having fed enough to feel relatively normal again, he transformed and turned invisible, but just rolled out of the broken cement instead of leaving.

The Red Huntress soon landed on the roof, just feet from where Danny lay. She scanned the area for ghosts and grumbled when nothing popped up. "Of course. Half the city freaking out cuz they think they saw Phantom, and there isn't a single reading for miles."

Danny smirked and folded his arms above his head, relaxing. ' _Let's have some fun…'_ "Is there, Valerie?" He held back a laugh when she immediately jumped in the air again, her hover board forming and weapons ready.

"Show yourself!" She spun around a few times, her guns glowing as they charged up.

"I heard there hasn't been ghosts here in years. Been awhile since you used that suit, ne?"

She fired at random into the air, but hit nothing. "Who are you?"

"Sheesh. You'd think you'd piece it together quicker. Who do you think?" Danny rolled his eyes. He created a duplicate and sent it up into the air near her, invisible as well. It spoke instead of him, so she wouldn't realize his voice hadn't moved from the roof.

Valerie's eyes slit behind her visor. "You don't sound like Phantom."

The duplicate chuckled. "You don't sound like Valerie."

"People age! Ghosts don't!" She fired again, dangerously close to where the duplicate was.

"Maybe I'm not a normal ghost. Never have been."

"What do you mean, not a normal ghost?"

He snorted. "C'mon, what kind of ghost fights their own? Or protects humans, for that matter."

"Maybe you remembered being a human. I never cared." The huntress practically growled.

"Ok then… I'm ganna make you reaaaal confused. Picture me- as I looked back then of course. Younger than I am now. Now play around with colors. Change my hair color, eyes, skin tone, etc."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You'll see… Photoshop might work better than imagination." He laughed. He let his laughter trail away into the air as the duplicate vanished, making it seem as if he left.

When she assumed he left, she flew down to the roof again and opened a panel on the wrist of her suit. Danny floated up into the air and hovered behind her, watching. He smirked when she actually opened up a little photo-editing app and pulled up a picture of Phantom, then started playing around with the colors.

"White hair, brown eyes… blue eyes… Blond hair, darker skin, brown hair, hazel eyes… Ugh, this is stupid. Black hair, brown eyes… black hair, blue-" she froze when the image of Phantom had black hair and blue eyes. A simple color change had turned him into an exact replica of her old highschool friend, Danny Fenton. "W-what…?"

Danny took that as his cue to fly off, chuckling under his breath. The dull ache of the core-attack, as he began to refer to them as, still lingered in his chest.

 _ **Later that night-**_

Unable to find Sam, Danny returned to the Fenton home late into the night. Checking to see if his parents were asleep, he went wander around the house too see if it had changed much. There was a ton of new ghost equipment and inventions strewn about, and some new furniture, but nothing too drastic. Hesitantly, he floated upwards and into his old room.

Danny sighed softly as he looked around. Besides being clean, it hadn't changed one bit. Little glow in the dark stars still stuck to his ceiling, space posters lined the walls, and his old games remained in a pile. "Wow…" Careful not to disturb anything, he floated over to his old computer and hit the power button. He smiled slightly when it actually turned on. "Ah, what the hell? It's late, everyone asleep." He pulled out the chair and sat down. "Let's see if anyone still plays Doomed."

Barely ten minutes later, Danny was playing on his old account with the volume shut off. The game was extremely outdated and not as fun as he remembered, but it still brought back good memories. There were very few people online. He snorted when he noticed one of them was Tucker. "Not surprised…" Quickly changing his name in chat to 'GZ' he typed out:

'Yo, Techno-Geek. Been a long time.'

Tucker replied within seconds, 'Who r u?'

Danny smirked. 'So quick to question… Can't a guy say hi?'

'No 1 calls me techno-geek anymore, so u obvsly kno me.'

'Clearly.'

'Who r u?'

'GZ.'

'I c that. What's it mean?'

'You know exactly what it means, Bad-Luck Tuck.' And with that, he logged off and tried to contain his laughter.

"Hm… I wonder if he's going to that reunion tomorrow?" he smirked to himself. "I doubt Sam will, but she's still in town, so… maybe." He put everything back where it was and went back to the guest room to rest for the night. He didn't need as much sleep as humans, but still got a few hours a night. It was disappointing to think his parents had never noticed that. Ever since the portal accident, he never got enough sleep, snuck out every night, had cold skin, slowed breathing, and a slower heart rate. Since puberty, his skin only grew colder- near freezing- and he now only needed about three or four hours a night of sleep.

Flopping down on the bed, Danny crossed his arms above his head and easily drifted into a dreamless slumber.

He awoke long before Jack and Maddie. He took a quick shower and headed out again, not wanting to stay in that house longer than he had to. Not wanting to risk another core-attack, he chose to ride his motorcycle around instead. It still sat parked across the street where he'd left it.

Danny took his time riding throughout the city. He didn't have anywhere to be until seven that night. He ended up visiting some old hangouts; like the mall, and even went watch a movie for the hell of it.

 _ **Sometime after noon; FentonWorks**_

While Danny was out, the two elder Fentons went back to the basement to continue their work. The blood and ectoplasm readings should be done. They didn't really question where Phantom vanished off to; though they were helping him, his daily life wasn't really their business.

Maddie hummed quietly to herself as she looked over the results from the blood sample. Everything seemed pretty normal- as far as half-ghosts went. There were large traces of ectoplasm in his blood, but she assumed that to be normal. While she did this, Jack looked over the ectoplasm.

"Mass cell decay within the ectoplasm… No clear cause." Jack took a saved sample under the microscope and peered at it. Individual green cells appeared like red blood cells in animals, but they functioned for different reasons. "Madds, come look at this." At regular intervals about a minute between, the cells would flash blue for a second before a small portion of them shriveled and died.

But Maddie Fenton wasn't paying attention. Something about the DNA pattern seemed familiar to her, but it was way too complicated to place. Instead, she ran another sample through a different machine that would compare it to hundreds of others. Since it sorted through family and friends first, she was shocked when it almost immediately beeped with a match.

Maddie's eyes widened in shock, tears beading at their edges. "J-Jack…? The blood sample we took from Phantom has a match…"

Staring back at her from the screen was an image of their son when he was 16.

 _ **That afternoon;**_

 _ **Casper High gym**_

Danny hung out in the back of the parking lot, watching a steady flow of adults enter the gym. They had to wait in line for a moment and grab a nametag. He recognized a few, but couldn't name countless others. He smirked lightly when he spotted Dash. The jock didn't look too much different than he used to, and even wore his letterman jacket. The only difference the Halfa could see was a slightly broader jaw and a stronger build.

He got off his bike when the number of people started to slow down. "Better late than never, ne?" he murmured under his breath. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, not really caring he was pretty underdressed. Jeans and a leather jacket didn't exactly fit in with suits and dresses.

Danny snickered softly when he saw there was actually a name tag placed out with his name on it. He grabbed it when no one was looking and tucked it into his pocket. Inside, the gym was decorated with a ton of stuff representing their class. Posters of Jock and cheerleader achievements, yearbook stuff, graduation, class favorites, etc. At one end of the gym was a stage, where Lancer was giving some stupid speech about how he was proud to see all the faces there. He then went on to explain a few events they'd be doing, including a 'guess who' type of game, where former students would go on stage and try to make others guess who they were.

Looking around, he saw there were a hell of a lot of people he didn't recognize there. He could easily blend in with them. It's not like he wanted to stay long, anyways. He was basically just curious to see who was alive and who was not. And Dash. It bugged him to know if the jock was successful or a total bum. He snorted as he headed to the bleachers to take a seat and watch from above.

"...Danny?" A voice spoke from behind him.

' _...shit.'_ Danny mentally groaned. So much for blending in. He turned his head to look back at who spoke, relaxing a bit when he saw who it was. No one important. "Kwan."

Kwan gave him a sheepish smile. "Heh… I thought it was you." He went to say something else, but another voice calling his name cut him off. When Kwan turned to look, Danny snuck off into the crowd and found an empty spot in the bleachers. He was far enough away from the crowd to not be seen with a casual glance. With his enhanced hearing, he focused in on Kwan.

Dash jogged up to his old friend, grinning. "Kwan, hey! I thought you weren't coming?"

After seeing who it was, Kwan ignored the question in favor of looking around. "Where'd he go…?"

"Where'd who go?"

"Danny! Fenton's here."

Dash's eyes widened. "Fenton actually showed up…? Holy shit…" They both started looking around.

"Great…" Danny groaned under his breath. "Shoulda guessed someone would recognize me." His grumbles stopped when he spotted Sam walk in the doors. "Wow…" she looked… beautiful. A lacy black dress clung to her frame, showing off perfect curves. Little bat earrings dangled from her ears, as well as a bat necklace at the hollow of her throat. Her black hair had a purple streak in it and was tied back in a loose ponytail, though bangs framed her face. A few heads turned to stare, but it was easy to recognize who she was. Tucker and Valerie followed soon after her, their hands locked. Danny noticed they both had wedding rings and chuckled quietly. "Tuck and Val… wonder when that happened."

Danny relaxed back against the bleachers as some of the guests started playing some games. The 'guess who' was actually pretty amusing. Dash was obvious; throwing a football back and forth between Kwan and himself. Turns out he was a professional football player, while Kwan was a high school coach. Paulina struck up a few poses and pretended to have paparazzi; she was an actor and model. A few others went up, and some were impossible to guess. Tucker even had fun with it. He sat on the stage and typed away on his smart phone. Someone yelled out "Bad Luck Tuck!" within seconds, and the crowd erupted in laughter.

Someone sitting a few steps below Danny looked up at him. "Why don't you go?" the stranger asked. "I don't recognize you, but someone might."

Danny shrugged. "I'm thinking about it…" He truthfully was. He didn't exactly want people to recognize him… But unless Kwan blurted it out, what was the chances anyone would? Danny got an idea when he spotted a few instruments randomly strewn about on the side of the stage. He smirked, got up, and went stand in line for the stage. There were only a few others in front of him.

When he got close enough, he snatched a guitar from the pile. A few others looked over curiously, but no one looked like the recognized him. People began to grow less interested with the participants ahead of him and started paying less attention. Idle chatter started up as Danny stepped up on the stage, barely anyone watching.

But people certainly turned when he hooked up the guitar and started to _sing-_

" _Walk away from the sun, come slowly undone  
I can see in your eyes I've already won  
I could bleed for a smile, I could cry for some fun  
Walk away from the sun, and tell everyone_

 _There's so much left in the air  
So much to tell from a stare  
There's so much left to defend  
But I am no fun_

_So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone  
I can tell by your smile you're coming undone  
I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun  
Walk away from the sun and kill everyone," _

Many in the crowd started cheering, few even throwing their fists up and rocking along. But no one shouted a name.

" _So tiny dancer beware, we're medicated and scared  
This smile is so hard to wear, but I have no gun_

 _So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone  
I can tell by your smile you're coming undone  
I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun  
Walk away from the sun and kill everyone_

 _And you're fading with every day  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)  
You're fading with every day  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)  
You're fading with every day  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)  
And you're fading with every day... whoa_

 _There's so much left in the air  
So much to tell from your stare  
There's so much left to defend  
But I am no fun_

 _And you're fading with every day  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)  
You're fading with every day  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)  
You're fading with every day  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)  
And you're fading with every day... whoa_

 _Walk away from the sun  
(fading with every day)  
(you could've been the next one, should've been enough for me)..." _

The song slowly faded, leaving a cheering audience to fill the silence.

Well, until Dash decided to yell, " _Fenton!?"_

Danny grinned, gave a two-fingered salute, and _vanished._ He'd turned invisible and walked back to his spot on the bleachers, leaving the crowd to panic and wonder where he'd gone. "Idiots…" he chuckled softly, becoming viable again in a dark area of the bleachers.

"See! I told you he was back!" A voice nearby caught his attention. Not too far from him sat Sam, Tuck, and Val. Tucker had his arms up in the air. "His Doom account was active last night!"

Sam scowled. "There's no way it was him. He left us, Tuck. He's not coming back."

"...well, I did hear a huge crowd claiming they saw Phantom yesterday…" Valeria said hesitantly.

Sam and Tuck paused for a moment. "What does he have to do with anything?"

Val shrugged. "I… figured out who he is."

Tuck's eyes widened, while Sam looked angry. He took her hand. "Val, you can't tell anyone about that."

To which she raised an eyebrow. "Well, clearly… I don't know what he is, exactly, but the GIW would have a cow if they found out some sort of… hybrid exists."

Sam and Tuck exchanged a nervous glance. "We should probably find him." The trio got up and left the bleachers, not even looking in the direction Danny was sitting.

Danny rolled his eyes. _'It's like they forget I can go invisible… At least I know Val actually figured it out.'_ He relaxed back and watched the crowd. It took them about twenty minutes to stop freaking out about Danny's disappearing act and continue on with their lives. He occasionally snuck down to grab a drink or little snack to munch on.

Nearly an hour later, Danny visibly stiffened when a shiver traveled up his body and ended in a little puff of blue breath. "A ghost…" he hissed under his breath. "What happened to none being here?" He turned intangible and sank through the wall, then started looking around for whatever triggered his sense. He growled to himself when the ghost sense went off again, then for a third time. "Is the whole fucking ghost zo-" he cut off when he saw Skulker flying overhead, soon followed by the Box Ghost and Technus.

Hearing panic, he turned to see a bunch of the class members fleeing the gym. Other ghosts started to appear, though most were the nameless animal type. Unaware of a few pairs of eyes watching him, he slunk back into a semi-hidden corner and changed into Phantom. He flew up, cutting off Skulker's path.

"Phantom!" Skulker stopped. "At least, I assume you're the ghost-child... No one else bares that emblem."

Danny rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What the hell is going on here, Skulker?"

"Fleeing from the Core Sickness, of course! As all ghosts not taken by it are."

He raised an eyebrow. "Core Sickness, eh…? It's affecting full ghosts now?"

Skulker scowled. "Get out of my way, boy."

Danny frowned. "I don't think I like your tone…" One of his hands began to glow green. "Why don't you ask again, a little nicer?"

A rocket appeared on Skulker's shoulder, ready to launch. Both of them floated in silence, staring each other down. Skulker's eyes were slit as he studied the ghost he assumed was Phantom, while Danny's frown turned into a light smirk. "So… none of you are infected?"

"...correct." Skulker answered after a moment.

Danny's smirk immediately broke into a near sadistic grin, his fangs flashing. "Guess it's too bad that I am, then! You dumbasses just fled straight into someone who already has this 'Core Sickness.'" Skulker jerked and retreated a few yards back, but Danny was a step ahead of him. He vanished with a small puff of green smoke and reappeared just inches behind the hunter.

He shoved an arm straight through the suit's chest and yanked out a bunch of wiring. "Oh, this looks important…" Skulker's suit began to stutter and fall, but Danny grabbed the helmet and ripped it off before letting the body fall. He chuckled and he pulled Skulker out of the helmet by one of his little legs.

The -much less intimidating- Hunter squirmed around and tried to get free. "Release me!" He yelled in a squeaking voice. "I am the Ghost Zone's fiercest hunter! An infected pest like you cannot defeat me!"

Danny raised an eyebrow and held Skulker up eye level. "I think I just did, _pest._ Now, why don't you have over that pretty little core of yours?" When Skulker gave him a confused look, Danny rolled his eyes. "Have you never taken someone else's core before, Skulker?" He tore off one of the little frog's arms. Ignoring Skulker's screams, Danny started digging around in the wound. "Extremely hard to come across, since most ghosts put up a better fight. But once you have a taste…" he smirked when he fingers brushed against a sphere in the center of the tiny ghost. "That power boost is a hard addiction to break."

Before Danny had a chance to yank Skulker's core from his body, pain flared in his chest. "Fuck…" he let go of his prey, who flew off as fast as he could. Luckily, it stopped short enough that he didn't fall to the ground. He wobbled in the air a bit, but soon stabilized again, taking slow breaths as the sudden pain dulled down.

He groaned under his breath when he heard a bunch of people screaming and panicking as ghosts attacked them. "Guess I gatta help the pathetic humans… drag…" He flew over to where a wolf ghost had a group of people cornered. He dropped out of the sky, his foot crushing the wolf's head into the ground as he landed, splattering the ground with ectoplasm. The group gaped at him as he scraped his foot against the ground to get rid of the ectoplasm.

"Ph-Phantom…?" One spoke up. "Is that you…?"

Danny looked up and snorted when he saw who it was. "Dash. Don't know anyone else who wears this." He tapped the DP symbol on his chest.

Dash looked excited for a moment, but Pauline cut in. "You came back for me~! Why'd you leave?"

Danny's expression immediately dropped into an annoyed scowl as he turned to her. "Come back for _you?_ Ugh, don't make me puke… You were never nothing but a whore in my eyes. As for why I left? Cuz I turned into a psychopath." he shrugged. "And it's pretty fuckin' fun." He launched back up into the air, chasing down a few other ghosts. Animal ghosts that took him minutest to defeat before now took only seconds. A single well-aimed ecto blast could kill the majority of them.

He reached out to grab Technus' cape when another attack seized his core. Stronger than the last, Danny yelled as his body flickered and convulsed. While the humans looked on in surprise, Dann's flight gave out and he dropped. Acting on instinct, he managed to turn invisible and hold onto it until he crashed into a small alleyway just outside the school. He grit his teeth before screaming in pain, his back arching and fingers digging into the cement. Hoping to end the pain, he shifted back human. It dulled down some, but didn't vanish. Instead, he began to violently cough into his hand.

Feeling something wet, he looked to see bright green ectoplasm splattered in his palm. "Well, shit… this is new…" he managed to say before going into another coughing fit. He choked up more ectoplasm, where it now dripped down his chin and splashed across the ground.

"Danny…?" someone said from the entrance to the alley.

Danny looked up to see Sam standing there, her eyes wide. He gave her a little grin, "H-Hey…", and passed out in the bright green puddle.

 **AN:**

 **...don't hate me :D**

 **I don't have a teaser for the next chapter. So… see you guys soon :3**


	4. The Core Sickness (pt1)

**AN: I'm currently reading a fanfic that's pissing me off so much. It's one of my top five favorites, but only gets updated once every two weeks. And each chapter ends in a cliffhanger bigger than the last. _ So! I'm trying to avoid that with you guys. Cliffhangers will always be a thing, but I'm trying to update more often that this author XD Buuuut since it was Mardi Gras break, I spent all my free time on minecraft… oops**

 **Chapter 4: The Core Sickness**

Danny only remembered little snippets of what happened in the next few hours.

Sam's panicked voice, trying to wake him up then calling for Tucker. An argument followed and he was vaguely aware of someone trying to pick him up, but ended up half dragging him.

Little bits of conversation snuck into his head.

"...not injured…"

"...sick…"

"...11 YEARS-" followed by a string of curses directed at him.

"...parents know…?"

"...have to try…"

Whoever was dragging him nearly dropped him when he started coughing again, getting more ectoplasm on his clothes. He wasn't aware of who is it or how they react before he blacked out again. He didn't hear anything else for a while. Someone bangef on a door at some point and called for help.

"Danny…!"

Danny gave a quiet groan when stronger arms took him and carried him somewhere else.

He woke up a bit later when someone wiped his jaw with a wet cloth. It could've been minutes later, or hours, he couldn't tell. His eyes blearily blinked open, squinting slightly at sunlight filtering through the curtains. The first thing he saw was little stars on the roof- he was back in his old room. The cloth gently cleaning his face paused, making him look in the direction it was in. Danny's blue eyes met worried purple ones. "Sam…" he murmured, then his world went black again.

What he didn't see was that standing next to Sam was Maddie, a hand over her mouth, her eyes tearing up. "Phantom… He really is Danny, isn't he…?" She asked. When Sam nodded, Maddie fell back into a chair. "My boy… Oh dear God, I was hunting my son…"

"It was my fault…" Sam said quietly, focusing on cleaning off ectoplasm instead of looking at her. "I dared him to go into the portal, and it turned on while he was inside… He came out as Phantom, and has been ever since." She paused for a moment to sigh.

"Th-the portal turned on…?" Maddie asked, tears running down her face.

Sam nodded. "The 'on' switch was on the inside. I guess he bumped it." They sat in silence for awhile, lost in their own thoughts. Maddie was absolutely horrified at the thought of her son _dying_ and being revived as a halfa in their own basement. Her mind kept conjuring images of what could have happened if something had gone wrong; if his body hadn't have been compatible with ectoplasm. Many people have died before because of ecto-poisoning.

After a few minutes, Sam got up to go toss the rag in with some laundry and get a clean one, leaving Maddie alone with Danny. "Oh, Danny…" She whispered quietly as she watched him sleep. Seeing his chest rise and fall with uneven breaths, she never felt so helpless. Their first test results came up blank, and they hadn't gotten a chance to do any others. His ectoplasm was showing signs of decay, but there was no clear cause. Everything she knew as a scientist pointed against any sort of reasoning. Ectoplasm simply didn't decay. Ghosts could be injured and killed, but not destroyed. Their bodies would turn into a puddle of ectoplasm, which never aged.

She and Jack thought it must be because Danny's ectoplasm was a mixture of blood, but then Sam told them what happened at the reunion. Other ghosts had appeared and claimed the "Core Sickness" was affecting them as well.

Their ghost alarms started going off non-stop, so Jack, Tucker, and Valerie had gone out to try and hunt them down. Of course, Valerie was much better at it… But Jack and Tuck helped as best they could. With Phantom temporarily out of commission, there was no one else to do the job.

Maddie looked outside when she heard a ghost fly by, closely followed by the Huntress on her sled. Danny shivered lightly, but his ghost sense didn't wake him up. She sighed quietly and went over to a hall closet to grab a heated blanket. She and Sam returned to his room at the same time, where she laid the blanket over him and turned it on.

"Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom… It's not even that creative." Sam laughed softly, trying to lighten the mood.

"I resent that…" Both of them jumped when Danny spoke, not expecting to hear his voice. His eyes were just barely open as he watched them.

"Danny…" Maddie started, but trailed off.

Pretending he hadn't heard her, Danny lifted his head to look at the blanket on top of him. "Why the heated blanket?"

"Your… ghost sense." She said hesitantly. "I thought it might help you sleep if you couldn't feel it…"

Before she had a chance to continue, Sam blurted out, "Where the hell have you been?" She sounded more hurt than angry.

Danny silently watched them for a bit, his eyes half lidded. His gaze on Sam, he murmured, "C'mere."

Sam hesitated before stepping closer to the bed. She yelped when he suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her into the bed with him. He turned on his side, wrapped one arm around her, put his head on her shoulder, and went right back to sleep. "D-Danny!" She protested, blushing brightly. She tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but it didn't seem like he was going to budge any time soon.

Despite the tears still running down her face, Maddie laughed.

 _ **XXXINEVITABLEXXX**_

Danny woke early the next morning and immediately groaned at his sore body. He paused and snickered softly when he noticed Sam hadn't moved from where he'd trapped her. She was fast asleep, her face turned away from him. Moving slowly so now to disturb her, he got out of the bed.

He sighed as he stretched and thought over what he remembered from the night before. Maddie had called him 'Danny' and not 'Phantom', meaning she probably know who he was. _'Great… just fuckin great…'_ he groaned. His ghost sense when off and he scowled at the window. Some random ghost bird flew by, followed shortly after by Valerie. Her speed was slower than normal, and a little off balanced. _'She's probably been at it all night. Stupid girl.'_

Silently changing to Phantom, he turned invisible and flew outside. His chest immediately felt tight with a dull ache, but he ignored it. He followed after Valerie, watching her with bored curiosity.

Valerie slowed down when she had the ghost captured in a thermos. She frowned down at one of her radars. It showed another nearby, but it kept flickering in and out of detection. "The hell…? Damn thing must be broken…"

Danny floated around her in languid circles, reclined back as if he were laying down. Deciding he wanted her attention, he took a slow breath and started to sing. As Phantom, his voice had a slight echo, but when he sang… it sounded like three or four people talking at once.

"And I'll use you as a warning sign; That if you talk enough sense, then you'll lose your mind… And I'll use you as focal point; So I don't lose sight of what I want…"

Valeria looked around frantically, trying to pinpoint the voice. His echoing and overlapping voice was absoluting haunting ( _pun intended_ ) and sent chills down her spine.

"And I've moved further than I thought I could, But I miss you more than I thought I would. Oh I'll use you as a warning sign; That if you talk enough sense, then you'll lose your mind…" He let his invisibility fade for a moment- allowing her to recognize the DP on his chest and the black/white theme, but nothing more.

Valerie relaxed slightly and sighed. "You… you should be in bed…"

Danny smirked. "As should you, little Huntress. Been up all night?"

She flew down to a roof, where he followed and floated a few feet away, staying invisible. Ignoring his comment, she answered, "Of course I've been up all night. Someone has to deal with the sudden ghost infestation since you apparently won't."

"Ooh, harsh. I don't exactly play the hero anymore, Val." He chuckled.

She stiffened. "Are you saying you play the villain? Have you turned into an evil ghost, Phantom?"

' _Right to the point, ne?'_ "Mm… not quite. If I were evil, everyone would be dead by now. And I mean _everyone._ But of course, that would destroy the Ghost Zone as well, so it's a big 'no.' No, I play more of an… indifference. I couldn't care less."

"So why did you come back? Why did you leave in the first place?" She glared at where she thought he stood.

"I left… because I've seen the future. I've seen what I could have become- and it's not pretty. I was starting to turn into that, so I left before I could hurt anyone." He answered truthfully.

"What could be so bad that would force you to leave?"

"Turning completely evil."

"And… you thought you were turning evil?" She sounded skeptic.

He sighed and became visible in front of her. "Yes." She jumped back in surprise, a hand going to one of her ectoblasters. His flaming hair alone was something to take in. He scowled at her reaction. "Typical." His legs turned into a thick tail as he hovered around. Mimicking a scared voice, he said, "Oh, it's Danny Phantom! A big bad ghost! Kill it!" He huffed and crossed his arms.

Danny frowned when she took a few steps closer to him, but didn't pick up any defensive position. "What?"

Much to his amusement, she swiped a hand through his hair. "I-It's cold!"

Danny paused for a moment before laughing. "Of course it's cold! I have an ice core."

"But it's fire!"

He shrugged. "It's just for show, really."

"Just… for show?"

"Yep. If I get too weak, or just for the hell of it, I can easily do this-" The flames suddenly became solid hair and flopped down in a messy white mop of hair that matched his human form.

Valerie stepped back, her arms falling to her side. "Yea… I see it now." When he raised an eyebrow, she shook her head. "Who you are. Danny and Phantom… I can't believe I never saw it before."

Danny shrugged, though was smirking. "You weren't exactly looking for a human counterpart. No one was, even with how obvious it was. I mean… change a few colors and bam. Fenton becomes Phantom."

She crossed her arms. "Yea. Figured that out pretty quickly. So… how?"

"Gatta be more specific than that, girlie."

"How are you both?" She snapped. "A ghost and a human. It shouldn't be possible. It isn't possible!"

Danny rolled his eyes and let white rings travel across his body, turning him into his human self. "It's very possible. Extremely uncommon, obviously. I was inside our ghost portal when it was turned on, and I got zapped with all the energy of the Zone; effectively killing and reviving me at the same time. My DNA just happened to be compatible with ectoplasm, so I survived. Vl- the only other Halfa wasn't so lucky and had a bad case of ecto-Acne for years." He shuddered lightly. "Electrocution isn't fun. I wouldn't recommend it."

Valerie's helmet retracted so Danny could see the regret in her eyes. "Oh, god Danny… I… I hunted you… I thought I was keeping you safe! I-"

Danny raised a hand, silencing her. "I don't need a pity party, Val."

"I…" Val trailed off, then sighed. "You… shouldn't be out, Danny… You're sick…"

He scowled. "They're going to make a big fuss."

"Of course they are! You've been 'missing' for eleven years and show up out of the blue because you need their help!" Valerie nearly yelled.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, you haven't mellowed out at all…"

She glared at him. "Whatever. Just go back, ghost boy."

He gave her a sly smirk as he shifted back to Phantom. "Race ya."

Val's helmet formed again. "You're on, ghost boy!"

He laughed and dived off the edge of the building before shooting off towards FentonWorks- Valerie just a second behind him.

The two of them raced through the city, dodging buildings and signs. To give her a fair game, Danny didn't go intangible to fly through anything. His legs were a tail again, which helped his flight, but he wasn't going near his top speed. Val's sled could only keep up with so much. He stayed just a few feet ahead of her, going a little faster if she managed to catch up. He could tell the little tease was frustrating her, but he only laughed. Humans below looked up when they heard Valerie's sled and cheered her on. More cheering broke out when they realized who she was chasing.

Danny frowned when he heard the distinct whine of an ecto gun charging up. He turned his head to look back at her just in time to see a net appear at his side and wrap around him. The force sent him onto the balcony of a nearby building, where he growled and struggled to pull off the net.

"Danny!" Val called.

"Subject apprehended." A male voice spoke up. Danny looked up from the net to see two men in white suits fly onto the balcony via jet pack.

Danny snarled, baring his fangs in an animalistic way. "Thought you guys disbanded."

The two men ignored him. One looked at the other, "It's still fighting, activate the net." The other pushed a button that caused an electric current to move throughout the webbing.

Danny yelled as electricity shocked his entire body. It resonated with his ectoplasm, weakening him. Unfortunately, the sudden drain triggered another Core attack. His yell turned into a violent scream.

Val, who had never seen one of his attacks, thought it was just the net. She charged up one of her guns, aiming it at the two agents. "Let him go!"

One of the men frowned. "Aren't you that Huntress? Siding with a ghost… She must be overshadowed."

She flew back some when they pulled out weapons- just seconds before Danny's scream amplified into a Wail. Unlike the ghostly moan it was before, Danny's Wail sounded more like a baritone howl. The two agents were right in it's path and were thrown off the building. The sound shook the building they were on, causing people inside and below to panic. It only lasted a moment before falling into silence.

Valerie rushed over and tore the net off of him. His body still flickered with the attack, though shortly stabilized. "M' ok…" he murmured, but gave a quiet whimper when she tried to move him.

"Come on, Phantom… Gatta get you back before those guys show up again." She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hauled him up onto her sled with her. It gave a sound of protest at the extra weight, but still took off into the air.

She landed on the roof shortly after and took him inside through that door. "Turn human." She said as they went downstairs.

The bright flash of light caught the attention of everyone inside, who immediately rushed over. Danny gave a little cough, and ectoplasm immediately ran down his chin.

"Danny!" Maddie exclaimed, eyes wide. She and Jack took him from Val as he stumbled and brought him down to the lab.

"I'm fine…" he tried to weakly protest, despite not being able to stand on his own. "Mm fine…"

 **An: THERE WE GO- chapter four! I'm sorry it's short, but I haven't been writing much.**

 **...boop :3 So… I'll see you guys soon!**

 _ **But for now….**_

" _ **V-Vlad… Call Vlad… He was s-sick first…" Danny was barely able to get the words out, nearly choking on ectoplasm in the process.**_


	5. The Core Sickness (pt2)

**AN: Extremely sorry about the wait ;-; I got caught up in class work then realized "Oh shit I havent written anything in weeks" XD Kinda ironic that I just said I'd update more often...**

 **Chapter 5: The Core Sickness (pt. 2)**

Danny was laid down on a metal table in the lab. He sighed softly as the cold seeped through his clothes. Maddie checked his temperature while Jack got a few instruments ready. She frowned at the cold. "What's your normal temperature?"

"60- somethin…" he murmured, his head swimming.

"78. You're warming up." Since he wasn't all that focused she looked over at Valerie, who was lingering at the top of the stairs. "What happened?"

Valerie hesitated, a hand on the door frame. "I… was out hunting those ghosts when he found me. We were heading back and two of those Guys in White agents showed up and caught him in some kinda net. I didn't know they could do this much damage to a gh- to anyone."

"No problems with his core?" Maddie asked.

"His core?" Val raised an eyebrow.

Maddie nodded. "There's something wrong with it that's causing the ghosts to get sick. We… haven't figured out what exactly it is though."

"Ganna puke…" they heard Danny groan. Jack hurried over with a bucket, which Danny threw up into just a few seconds later. "Ugh…" it was a strange mixture of neon green ectoplasm and whatever he'd last eaten.

Maddie put her hand on top of his for moment before getting up. "I'll get you some water…" she headed up the stairs, where Valerie followed her into the kitchen.

The two of them stood in silence before Va asked. "How are you taking it…? With him being back…"

Maddie closed her eyes for a moment, her hands on a counter. "It's… hard. He's been gone for so long, and to suddenly show up in this condition…" she sighed and grabbed a glass cup. "I'm so glad that he's home. But I'm also scared because… he's Phantom. And he never told us. I'm sure he knew we knew about Vlad, but why wouldn't he tell us? We hurt him…"

"I didn't know he's Phantom either, and I hunted him almost every day. He never told me either." Val began, but paused, thinking about what Danny had said about seeing the future. "Maybe he was scared to tell us. That we wouldn't accept him."

They both glanced towards the lab when they heard him vomit again. Maddie sighed softly. "We have an extra bed upstairs, Valerie. Why don't you go take a nap?" She fixed the glass of water, while Val numbly nodded and went upstairs. Maddie stared into the water for a moment before grabbing an Advil and heading back to the basement.

Danny was sitting up on the metal table, his head in his hands, the bucket in front of him. It had a little air freshener that Jack had clipped to it. He glanced up when he heard his mother come down. All three of them looked exhausted.

She placed the water and pills next to him on the table. "Here, this should help with any pain. Danny…" she started, but trailed off, unsure of what to say. Jack was fiddling away with one of the random machines and a different ectoplasm sample from Danny.

"Sorry." Danny murmured, his throat raw from throwing up. "It was stupid of me not to tell either of you. I know I should've, I just… had my reasons. In hindsight, it was absolutely ridiculous of me to leave without-" he stopped to cough a few times. "...without telling anyone. It was necessary, though, for what was going on. I still should've come back sooner, at least…"

Jack put a hand on his shoulder. "Danny-o… We're just glad to have you back." He pulled his son into a tight hug, who stiffened up a bit in surprise. Too weak to protest, he just sighed softly when he felt Maddie hug him too.

"Glad to be back…"

 _ **Later that day…**_

Unlike his attacks before, Danny didn't seem to be recovering. He was weak and nauseous nearly every second of the day, and couldn't even keep down a few crackers he'd eaten. If not vomiting, he was often in coughing fits that left him gasping for breath afterwards. Sam had woken up early and went down to the lab. She didn't talk to Danny or even look at him, but helped with whatever she could. Val was also up, but she was outside rounding up more ghosts.

His parents were at a complete loss. They were getting extremely frustrated at the lack of progression. Jack had spent hours trying different trials on Danny's ectoplasm to see if it would react to anything, but was getting nowhere.

Maddie was going over her notes for the hundredth time when she let out an angered yell. "There's nothing! There's absolutely nothing!" She exclaimed, Danny throwing up again in the background. "I can't find a single internal force causing this!"

Jack shook his head. "Me either. So far, nothing I've used has had any effect."

Sam frowned and looked up from her own notes. "Maybe it's not internal." Jack and Maddie looked confused as she took out a Fenton Phone and turned it on. "Valerie? I have an idea. Think you can find another sick ghost?" She nodded after Valeri answered. "Call back when you find one. Don't catch it, just follow." She then turned to the others. "If nothing internal is causing this, then maybe it's external. It's not just Danny who's sick, other ghosts are too. So they probably have those Core Attacks too, right?"

Maddie nodded. "Yes, but every illness has it's symptoms. If this is some new ghost virus, they're all going to display the same things."

"Yes, but two people who have the flu don't sneeze at the same time. If something external is causing this, the Attacks might occur simultaneously." Sam pointed out. "If Valerie can find another sick ghost, we could prove it. I'm not sure where we'd go from there, but at least it's a start."

Jack's expression lit up. "You're a genius, Sammy!"

Maddie gently ran a hand through Danny's sweat-dampened hair. He was panting as he laid on his side, his eyes shut. "I don't want him to go through that again…"

"We don't have much of a choice, Mrs. Fenton. I know none of use like to see him in pain, but it'll be the last time if I'm right." Sam said softly. She jumped slightly when Valerie spoke up on the Fenton Phone-

" _Alright, Sam. I think I found one."_

"Good. Keep an eye on it, and tell me immediately when it has an Attack,"

Maddie sighed. "Danny, sweety… You're going to have to change to Phantom for a little bit."

Danny groaned, his eyes opening a fraction. "Do I have to…?"

She gave him a stern look. "Do you want to get better or no?"

He gave a pitiful little whine, but let the white rings form around his waist and transform him into Phantom. Instead of fire, his hair was the normal white mess than hung in front of his eyes. He winced and curled up, his expression twisted. "Hurts…"

Maddie watched him worriedly, her hand still running through his hair. "It's ok, Danny… It's not for long. You'll be better soon, I promise."

Danny gave her a tiny exhausted smile. For a while, the only sound in the room was his ragged breathing and the occasional coughing fit. No one dared speak; the air tense as they waited for anything to happen. Sam looked up from some papers when Danny started to hum and smiled lightly.

" _What's with him and singing lately?"_ Valerie asked over the phone. The volume was high on her end so she was able to hear everyone.

"It… keeps me calm." Danny answered, his voice hoarse.

Before Val had a chance to respond, she noticed the ghost she was watching start to wobble in the air. _"Ok, guys, I think it's about to happen."_

On the metal table, Danny stiffened. At the same time, Val watched a ghost howl and drop out of the sky, and Maddie watched with fearful eyes as her son screamed and convulsed. Jack jumped to his feet, but they could do nothing but wait for it to end. Danny gripped the edge of the table as his body flickered in and out of sight. When it did so, they caught glimpses of his pale blue core spinning and glowing weakly in the center of his chest- right where his heart would be. The metal began to bend and contort under his grip as he screamed again.

Danny's core gave a soft pulse before his body reformed and he went limp, panting.

" _It stopped."_ Valerie's voice echoed in the room.

Maddie put a hand on Danny's shoulder. "You can change back…" Danny immediately did so, his pain lessening.

"It's definitely an exterior force if it occurs simultaneously amongst multiple affected ghosts." Jack said as he started taking notes. "But where is it coming from? Are ghosts in the Zone affected? It is natural or something science made?"

"How can we stop it?" Maddie added.

"Valerie, keep an eye on other ghosts to make sure it's always at the same time." Sam said. "This could've been a coincidence."

"It seems as though the longer a ghost has been exposed to… whatever this is, the worse the symptoms get." Maddie continued as if Sam hadn't spoken. "We could find ghosts in various stages and experiment with ways to block the cause. But to block some sort of ghost-related invisible force… The shield!" her eyes lit up and she got to her feet, hurrying over to a wall full of various buttons, screens, and weapons.

As soon as the glowing green shield was activated, Danny seemed to relax. He coughed a few times, but it clearly didn't hurt him nearly as much.

Jack and Sam looked surprised. "Did… did that really work?" She asked.

Maddie, looking rather proud of herself, shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and see if he gets better. It won't be immediate."

Danny started coughing more, catching their attention. It didn't sound as… violent, but was still a cause for worry. "V-Vlad… Call Vlad… He was s-sick first…" he was barely able to get the words out, nearly choking on a mix of blood and ectoplasm in the process. He coughed up a thick mass of it into the bucket. He took a few shaky breaths. "The shield helps."

Maddie and Jack ran upstairs to get the house phone. When they were gone, Sam got up and went sit on the edge of the table Danny was on. "Danny…"

He looked up. "Sup." his voice cracked lightly.

She sighed. "What… what did you mean earlier when you said singing keeps you calm?"

Danny grinned, but it wasn't a very convincing one. "Just a little something Frostbite taught me. I'm a lot more like Dan than I'd ever hoped to be, and there ain't shit I can do about it. So… would you rather me go terrorize some people or sing a little song?"

Sam's expression hardened. "Is _that_ why you left? Danny, you know we could've helped you deal with it. It's been a team effort from the very beginning-" she was cut off when Danny sat up and grabbed her wrist. His eyes turned red.

"Not with this. This isn't something that could have been _avoided_ or _fixed._ It's who I am. It's who I was always meant to be. Nothing is going to change that." He practically growled. "Let me get one thing straight. I didn't come back here for any of you. I came back for Vlad. If he hadn't gotten sick, none of you would have ever seen me again. And as soon as Jack and Maddie figure out a way to stop this _fucking disease,_ I'm gone." His eyed faded back to blue.

Sam's own eyes were wide with shock. "What- why not give us a chance? I know we cant do anything to stop you, but… Danny, we're your friends. No matter what happens, we always will be."

"I'm not the same kid you once knew, Samantha. I've done a lot of bad things."

 **AN: oooh, but what bad things has he done~? Again, sorry about the wait XD I don't have a preview for the next chapter, nor am I sure of when It's going to come out… Spring break is in two weeks, so I'll have a lot of time to write then. I'd say the fic is already about a third done. Unless I can think of some fillers to extend it XD**

 **Oh well. Until next time!**

 **-Sapherer**


	6. 11 Years (pt1)

**AN: I may or may not have forgotten that i'm writing a fanfic… sorry o-o**

 **Little warning: this chapter skips around** _ **a lot**_ **. The majority is in the past, but every "flashback" is in linear form. And its short. And character death. And kinda gore. And the fact that I'm** _ **terrible**_ **at fight scenes, so I cheated with them XD**

 **Chapter 6: 11 Years**

Danny and Sam sat in silence for a few minutes, their eyes never leaving each other.

"What happened to you…?" Sam asked quietly.

Danny sighed softly, being the first to glance away. "Too much, Sam… Too much." He closed his eyes for a moment.

 _ **Fenton House;**_

 _ **11 years ago**_

Fear. That's all he could feel. This couldn't be real, right? He had to be dreaming. Yea, this was just a dream! It had to be. Wake up, wake up!

 _Red…. Why were his eyes red?_

 _ **Casper High;**_

 _ **11 years ago**_

 _Dash._ He hurt Dash, of all people! And it felt _good._ He… he wanted to do it again. He wanted more people to hur- NO. No. That's not who he was. He wasn't evil. He-he couldn't be. ClockWork said it wouldn't happen… right?

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **11 years ago**_

Where the hell was he going? Sure, he'd left home, but he didn't have a plan after that. Do most runaways have a plan? ...was he even considered a runaway? Bah, who cares. It's not like he was every going back. Guess that meant the Zone was his home now. He was a _ghost_ after all.

Hunger gnawed at his stomach, but he didn't know why. He was never hungry as a ghost.

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **10 years- 8 months ago**_

He wasn't able to stop himself. He didn't know why he did it. The poor thing had been innocent and completely benevolent. But he'd still done it. He'd torn apart some sweet little ghost dog and ripped out it's small green core. He nearly threw up at the memory.

He'd _eaten_ it. _He ate a ghost's core._

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **10 years- 5 months ago**_

It was growing easier to do. He only went after small unintelligent ghosts to sate his growing hunger. It no longer hurt him to kill them, but they weren't as filling as they used to be. The small power boost was a plus, though. They never had much strength, but anything left was transferred to him.

Clockwork was proving elusive. The damned ticking ghost refused to show his face. Where the hell was he!?

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **10 years- 4 months ago**_

Ember had been the first intelligent life he'd taken. The tantalizing scent of her red fire core was too much to resist. It burned on it's way down his throat, but he didn't care. It was _amazing_. Bright green ectoplasm was licked off his fingers until they were clean.

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **10 years- 2 months ago**_

He still couldn't find that fucking ghost. He something saw a cog float by, as if teasing him. His aimless rage was growing, and he did nothing to try to contain it.

In his anger, he completely destroyed Skulker's lair.

That destructed felt so good at his fingertips. To be able to flaunt his growing strength was something he never took advantage of before.

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **10 years ago**_

"CLOCKWORK…!" His roar echoed through the Zone. "YOU LYING BASTARD!"

He still proved elusive.

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **9 years ago**_

The ghosts had learned to avoid him by then. He killed almost everyone he came across and devoured their core. Dora, Aragon, Nocturn, Waller, Klemper, a few Observents, and even Wulf had fallen to his hands. He felt no guilt at turning random lairs into ruble.

Why would he stop, when it was _so much fun?_

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **8 years ago**_

It had been a long time since he'd come across another intelligent ghost. Wandering around aimlessly, he was mildly surprised to come across the Far Frozen. He hadn't been intentionally seeking them out, but hey… What's visiting an old friend going to hurt?

 _ **Ghost Zone- Far Frozen**_

 _ **7 years- 11 months ago**_

 _Turns out it hurt a lot._

They had him chained in an underground cell; the cuffs human and ghost proof. Danny snarled and tugged at them when Frostbite crouched in front of him, baring his fangs.

"Great One… You cannot continue on this path. You are not a malevolent being." The large creature's voice was soft, almost pitiful.

"What's it matter?" Danny growled back. "I'm doing what _I_ want for once. I'm not wasting my time saving some ungrateful humans who couldn't give a crap about me."

"You are angry." Frostbite murmured.

"No shit, Sherlock!" Danny snapped. "You have me held captive in some dank prison cell!"

Frostbite sat back, leaning against the bars. "You've come into your full power, I see. Maturity for ghost can be very overwhelming." Danny continued to glare at him, pulling tight on the chains. His wrists were rubbed raw. "This… anger that you feel is caused by your ghost half. We are, by nature, focused on a single Obsession. Some are more obvious than others, but you… I am not too sure of. Maybe you yourself do not know it?"

Only silence answered him.

Frostbite sighed. "You know, Great One… There are other ways to deal with anger. My people have a bit of a tradition for it." He grinned. Danny raised an eyebrow. "Song."

"...singing." Danny's face dropped into an unamused frown. "Are you kidding?"

"Of course not!" The yeti laughed. "No matter the type of music, it's often used as a stress reliever. You'd be surprised. You may find it fun."

Danny scowled.

 _ **Ghost Zone- Far Frozen**_

 _ **7 years- 10 months ago**_

Humming echoed through the cells of the Far Frozen.

" _When I was a child, I heard voices...  
Some would sing and some would scream  
You soon find you have few choices...  
I learned the voices died with me_

 _When I was a child, I'd sit for hours  
Staring into open flame  
Something in it had a power,  
Could barely tear my eyes away_

 _All you have is your fire...  
And the place you need to reach -  
Don't you ever tame your demons  
But always keep 'em on a leash…" _

_**Ghost Zone- Far Frozen**_

 _ **7 years- 9 months ago**_

"So, Great One. What is your obsession?"

"...I'm alive."

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **7 years- 8 months ago**_

It took time, but Frostbite did eventually release him. He went back to aimlessly wandering around the Zone, but no longer purposely tried to destroy any lairs. If given the chance, he would still steal the core of a lesser animal ghost.

He even tried to make a lair for himself. For the past few years, he'd been sleeping wherever he could. He'd clean the area of any ghosts before relaxing on some island. Though, since he was not a full ghost, the Zone didn't obey his wish and never created a door for him. It didn't bother him too much. So what, he didn't have a home? No one cared. He certainly didn't.

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **6 years ago**_

Some things are never meant to last.

With a few different methods of 'anger management', Danny actually felt peace for the first time in a very long time. Though he never should've expected it to be permanent. Absently humming quietly to himself, Danny was floating around the endless Zone with a roar echoed through its expanse, followed by a showy pulse of raw power.

Danny abruptly stopped. "Now that feels familiar… It couldn't be though." Despite his better judgement, he flew towards the commotion. A mad grin creeped across his face when he spotted a large island completely in crumbles, and the large man that stood at the center.

"Well… if it isn't Pariah Fucking Dark."

The King turned towards him with a snarl. "You! Ignorant child who stole my crown! Return it to me!"

Danny crossed his arms. "I didn't steal anything. Honestly surprised you recognize me, though. I'm impressed, Pariah."

A glowing green sword manifested itself in Pariah's hand. "If you will not return it, then I will take it from you!" Pariah roared.

Danny's grin only grew. "Come and try. I'm sure you'll put up a better fight than anyone here."

The two of them shot towards each other.

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

The two ghosts fought like gods. Rubble and stray blasts flew all over the place, though it was their thunderous roars that frightened off anyone first. Neither one of them seemed to have the upper hand at first. One would get a good shot before the other immediately retaliated.

Danny was able to catch the King off guard with his Ghostly Wail, which had only grown in strength over the past few years. It wasn't nearly enough to defeat Pariah, but it threw him down into the nearest land mass. Diving, Danny slammed down on top of Pariah's chest, causing him to be crushed further into the stone.

Both of them covered in deep wounds, Danny locked his fingers into deep gashes in Pariah's armor before tearing the metal off of him. When Pariah regained his senses and went to throw off Danny, the younger ghost released another powerful Wail directly into the king's face. Without letting it up, Danny let his ecto-energy form long green claws over his fingers before he dug them into Pariah's chest.

"Give it to me!" Danny yelled as his claws made contact with the hard core deep in the center of his chest. A mad grin cracked across his face when his fingers wrapped around it and he yanked it free. Floating away from the angry king with his prize, Danny stared down at the core in his hands. At the size of a baseball, the deep green ball was much larger than any he'd seen before.

Pariah struggled to his feet, but his body was beginning to melt without it's life source. "What have you done?! Was my Crown not enough for you!" He roared.

Instead of answering, Dann looked back down at him with a grin before he took a bite out of it like it was an apple. Fresh ectoplasm splashed across his face. Within seconds, his bleeding wounds were starting to heal.

The pained roar of a fallen king echoed around the Ghost Zone.

 **AN: It's 1:15 AM and I just finished this up… XD The next chapter is going to be similar, but it's really going to pick up after that, I promise!**

 **For now…**

 _ **"Vlad never did approve of my… late night excursions…" Danny laughed, though the woman in front of him had no idea what he was talking about. He ran a finger along her jawline, smirking as he felt her tremble with fear. "Then again, he thinks I stopped months ago. But how could I? Humans are just as fun as ghosts, even if they don't taste the same."**_


	7. 11 Years (pt2)

**Chapter 7: 11 years (pt2)**

 **An: Up! goes the rating :)**

 **Whoops, really left you guys on a cliff hanger. Honestly forgot about this for… over a year? I actually cringed when I saw the last update date, because I personally wont read any incomplete fics that havent been updated within a year. I have decided that if I write another fic after Inevitable, I'm taking a different approach to it. Write out the entire thing, then update on a regular period as it's edited/finalized, instead of the system I have now. Which is writing whenever the hell I feel like it and have time to. Like when laying in bed at 1 in the morning while both of my cats are trying to suffocate me. I honestly had to go back and read it to remember what my plans were.**

 **On with the show!**

 _ **Ghost Zone**_

 _ **6 years ago**_

That was how Vlad found him; ectoplasm dripping down his chin and his veins flooding with raw energy.

Vlad stared at him, his red eyes wide with shock. "Daniel…?" He had been following the loud sounds of battle, hoping to find some sort of entertainment. Coming across the melting body of the feared Ghost King and his Little Badger- who had been missing for five years- covered in ectoplasm was certainly… exciting.

A deep growl reverberated in Danny's chest as he licked some of the bright green liquid off his lip. "Hello, _Plasmius_."

Silence hung between them for a few minutes before Vlad shook himself from his shock. "Where have you been, dear boy…?" He only got a half crazed laugh from Danny.

 _ **Vlad's Mansion- Wisconsin**_

 _ **6 years ago**_

Just hours later, Danny found himself agreeing to live with Vlad, under the condition that Vlad told no one of his whereabouts, and Danny followed a few of Vlad's rules. He had nowhere else to go, anyways, so why the hell not? He got a roof over his head, and his own room again.

Though pleased with this, he wasn't all that fond of Vlad's few rules. He had to inform the elder Halfa of when he left, where he was going, and when he'd be back. Danny clearly didn't care about himself, but he was still not allowed to reveal Vlad's identity. He had to keep his room clean, and was in charge of his own laundry. Vlad had plenty of money to buy him new clothes as well as anything he wanted.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **5 years ago**_

It hadn't taken long at all for Danny to get accustomed to… _human_ life again. He got back into an easy routine of wake up, shower, pick some old clothes, eat, go out all day and just enjoy himself, return back to the mansion, sleep, repeat. He could easily lie to Vlad about where he was going, but didn't see any point in it. It wasn't like he ever did anything interesting.

Most of the time, at least.

When Danny grew bored, he often sought out some sort of excitement. But… his version of excitement was different than most people's.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **5 years ago**_

"I've been away, searching for a reason, another purpose to find… I've sailed the seas, fought my many demons, I've looked to gods in the skies…"

In the darkness of night, a lone figure walked down the streets. He sang quietly under his breath, filling the silence. An occasional car's headlights light up his built figure. "I've stood in hell, where many had to suffer, I stared the devil in the eyes. Walked many roads to witness ancient idols, and found the great gates of fire."

"Had many storms question my conviction, gave armies reason to rise… The hangman's searching for bones he can borrow, while I escaped in the night, fight or flight…" Danny smirked lightly as he scanned the few faces walking in the night with him. They often glared at him for openly singing. "Live again, all roads end, I'll be coming home. Tend your light, 'cause on this night, I'll be coming home..." His eyes stopped on a man leaning against a brick wall, his head tucked down to avoid wind as he lit his cigarette. Brown hair, brown eyes, a thin beard, and a long jacket.

Target chosen, Danny turned the corner the stranger was near before phasing right into the building. It was some antique shop that closed hours ago. "Escaped the hail of calculated mortars, then drank the blood of a king. The desert rain has washed away direction, had angels looking after me, so it seems." He walked up to a wall and phased partway through it. His hand clamped over the mouth of the unsuspecting human before Danny dragged him through the wall and into the empty shop.

"W-what the hell?!" The guy looked around in shock, his eyes wide. "How did I get in here? Who are you?" He looked up at Danny, who only smirked. The human backed up into the wall when Danny's eyes flashed red. "Are you some kind of vampire?! Y-You wouldn't want my blood, I have- uh- HIV?"

Danny rolled his eyes. His hand shot forward and grabbed the man's throat. "Live again, all roads end, I'll be coming home. Tend your lights, 'cause on this night, I'll be coming home…" He sang quietly and he lifted the human up and pinned him to the wall. The human choked and grabbed at Danny's arm, trying to loosen his grip. Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath, absorbing the fear radiating off his victim.

The red of his eyes burned brighter, causing the human's fear and panic to increase. The more he struggled, the tighter Danny's grip grew. His face was red from the lack of oxygen.

"My story ends not far from where it started, my weary limbs have grown old." Danny watched spit dribble from the man's mouth as his struggles gradually lessened. He fed on as much of the fear as he could, savoring the feeling of the slowing heartbeat beneath his grip. "I've seen the world through the eyes of a nomad, home is where the heart is, I've been told, so I go." He let go, letting the body drop limp to the ground. Adjusting his jacket, Danny turned intangible and phased through the wall without a care of who saw him.

"Live again, all roads end, I'll be coming home. Tend your light, 'cause on this night, I'll be coming home…" He walked back down the street in the direction he'd come from, heading back to Vlad's mansion.

The body wasn't discovered until two days later.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **4 years, 3 months ago**_

Danny went out at least twice a month to… _feed._ He always chose those who wouldn't be missed as his victims. Drug dealers, prostitutes, the homeless, a runaway police already figured to be dead. The string of murders didn't go unnoticed by police, but there was no evidence of who could be doing this. The body's were always found in places where there was no sign of a struggle or a break in. Though Vlad assumed it was a ghost, none of his resources knew who it was. Skulker didn't go after humans and didn't know any who would only kill one at a time.

So of course Vlad went out to investigate.

Imagine his surprise at seeing Danny walking the streets. He'd always assumed the boy went do what anyone his age would- drink and party until the crack of dawn. He decided to follow the younger Halfa until he had a chance to approach. He frowned when he heard Danny humming and singing softly under his breath.

"What have I done? What have I done? How could I be so blind? All is lost, where was I? Spoiled all, spoiled all. Everything's gone all wrong." Heading back towards the mansion, Danny turned down an empty street. "What have I done? What have I done? Find a deep cave to hide in. In a million years they'll find me, only dust and a plaque that reads, 'Here Li-" he cut off when Vlad landing in front of him and turned visible.

"Daniel… What are you doing out here? You do realize there is some dangerous ghost on the loose, right?"

Danny rolled his eyes and answered honestly. "Feeding."

"...feeding?" Vlad raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed.

"Yea. Yanno, like on emotions and stuff?" Danny shrugged casually.

Vlad's eyes slit. "You know it's unnecessary to feed on such. It's easily supplemented with pure ectoplasm, which I can obtain for you whenever wanted."

"Yea, yea, fruitloop." Danny yawned. "I'm headin' back. You comin' or what?"

"...Daniel, I don't want to see you out doing this again."

Danny stopped in his tracks. "What was that?"

"You heard me." Vlad sighed. "You are no longer allowed to go out and freely feed on emotions like this. It causes damage to the human mind, and could be what's leading to all these deaths…"

The younger Halfa's eyes slit. "Very well… I won't go out anymore." He turned his back to Vlad and headed back to the mansion.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **3 years, 8 months ago.**_

Naturally, Danny didn't listen to a word Vlad said. He tried to feed off ghost emotions for a while, but it simply wasn't cutting it for him. Vlad was able to get small ghost cores for him when he wanted, but it was never _enough._ He wanted more.

To Danny, the answer was simple. He disobeyed Vlad and went out again to resume his practices. And again. And again. He started to mix up his usual prey. Instead of going for the obvious choices, he would occasionally put up a challenge for himself to see if anyone would notice. For example, a woman trying to wave down a cab.

Her bright blond hair and chocolate brown eyes caught his attention. She was the type of woman any sensible man would go for- though of course, Danny was not one of them. There weren't too many people around, so it shouldn't be _too_ much of a challenge. So, keeping his steps silent with a touch of intangibility, he approached her from behind.

"Excuse me, ma'am? I think you left your phone back at that shop." Danny vaguely pointed a thumb behind him in the direction she seemed to have come from.

"Huh? Oh, thank you!" She smiled brightly at him before heading away, leaving Danny amused that she hadn't even checked her purse for her phone.

Following her with the same silence, he waited for the perfect moment to slip invisible, grab her arm, and yank her into an empty alley, his other hand over her mouth. The woman's eyes widened in shock as she looked around, trying to find this invisible force holding her against her will. She struggled all she could, but it was no use.

A deep chuckle rumbled in the air as the halfa made himself visible once again. The woman's wide eyes turned into a hateful glare, recognizing him as the man who had told her about her phone. She yelled at him from beneath his hand, though it only came out as muffled gibberish.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Danny chuckled. "I'm afraid I couldn't hear you." He grinned, showing off his new fangs. That caused her to abruptly go silent, her hating glare mixed with confusion. Danny tilted her head to the side as he studied her. He raised his other hand, where his nails sharpened into the claws of his ghost form. He couldn't resist chuckling again when he felt fear begin to rise from her.

"Vlad never did approve of my… late night excursions…" Danny laughed, though the woman in front of him had no idea what he was talking about. He ran a finger along her jawline, smirking as he felt her tremble with fear. "Then again, he thinks I stopped months ago. But how could I? Humans are just as fun as ghosts, even if they don't taste the same." She whimpered beneath his hand when he tightened his grip, his nails digging into her cheek.

"Why don't we take this nice and slow…" He practically purred as he dragged his nails down her arm. She gripped his other tightly and desperately tried to pull it off. Danny closed his eyes for a moment as he took in her raw terror. "Or I could end it quick." He gripped her side and let his claws pierce her shirt and skin, then slowly dragged them down. She screamed beneath his right hand as he slowly tore open her side. "Either way, you die~" he hummed to himself. He moved his left hand away, examining the bright red blood that clung to his fingers. His nose wrinkled lightly when he smelled it. "Do you have any clue how many diseases you have? That's disgusting." He flicked his hand, splattering the blood on the ground. "Quick it is, then."

Using only his right hand, Danny slowly started to push her head into the brick wall. The woman screamed and struggled again. He grinned, a mad glint in his eyes, as he watched blood leak down the bricks and felt her skull begin to crack beneath his hand. A sickening crunch echoed over the block seconds later, followed by his laughter.

It didn't take long for someone to find the body.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **2 months ago**_

There was something very wrong with the Ghost Zone and Vlad knew it. He just couldn't quite put his finger on the exact situation. There was a strange… pulsing in the air that was difficult to describe. The majority of ghosts had made themselves sparse and hid away in their layers. Though Daniel had been living with him for years, he still didn't trust the boy, but he did care for him. So, unsure of what was going on, he forbid Danny from going into the zone. The younger halfa didn't seem to care either way. Vlad searched high and low throughout all the Zone he was familiar with, but found nothing that could explain the pulsing air. Disappointed with his lack of results, Vlad headed back to the human world.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **2 months ago**_

It was barely a week before Vlad noticed there was something… wrong with him. He didn't feel sick, exactly, but something was definitely off. His core felt as if it were gently pulsing. It wasn't uncommon for a ghost to physically feel their core, since the small spheres constantly spun. They did not, however, pulse. The feeling vanished shortly after it started, so he didn't put much thought into it.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **1 month, two weeks ago**_

The pulsing kept recurring, and gradually grew stronger each time. When Vlad felt his energy drain with each occurance, he started to put more care into it. Retreating to his lab, Vlad researched all sorts of core ailments and ghost sicknesses, but turned up with nearly nothing.

With Vlad distracted by this weird issue, Danny took the chance to get as much time away from the older halfa as he could. Without Vlad paranoia watching over him, he was once again free to do what he wanted. He resumed taking lives to satisfy his hunger. Feeling their life seep away by his hand and their delicious fear did so much to fuel him.

He was once a hero who saved lives, and he couldn't care less.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **1 month ago**_

The sickness was rapidly growing worse and Vlad wasn't a single step closer to solving it. He stayed in his human form after discovering being Plasmius made the pains worse. The random attacks didn't occur at regular intervals and nothing he tried could lessen the pain. All his years of research failed him in this instance.

 _ **Wisconsin**_

 _ **1 week ago**_

It took a full three weeks for Vlad to convince Danny to seek out his family for help. Vlad couldn't trust himself enough to leave the lab without having an attack and putting himself at risk. On top of that, he was beginning to worry for Danny as well. The younger ghost had ventured into the Ghost Zone and returned with the same soft pulsing Vlad had begun with.

" _Fine,_ fruitloop." Danny growled. "But I'm not telling them who I am, and I'm not staying there for more than a day."

 **AN: *casually screams***

 **Just finished up finals week for my fifth semester… I just want to sleep for a full month. But nope. Got commissions to finish before Christmas and a giant drawing for a friend.**

 **Anyways, I'm still alive? I know it's almost been two years, but… ah, well. I cant really promise anything. It takes me a bit to get back into the writing mood, since my brain is programmed to draw instead. I only have Tuesday/Thursday classes next semester, so… given I don't kill myself first, I'll try to get another update out quicker than this one did.**

 **Also don't have a beta reader, so…. Sorry for any misspelling or inconsistencies.**


End file.
